The Great Escape
by jacksparrow589
Summary: The annual Konoha festival finds Shikamaru wanting to stargaze, and Ino not letting him. ShikaIno oneshot.


**A/N: Hey! Jacksparrow589 here! I've read a ton of ShikaIno stuff and support it a LOT, but I've never written anything for it. (If you've seen my profile, though, I've written quite a bit of Fullmetal Alchemist stuff.) So, this is my first go, be somewhat kind, etc.**

**The time on this is rather ambiguous, but I'd say that they're somewhere around 14 or 15.**

Shikamaru had decided that the annual Konoha fair was troublesome, oh-so-very troublesome.

Why?

There was simply too much to do in a world where Shikamaru would love nothing more than to just cloud watch.

Then they went and made his hill into a picnic area.

Well, not _his _-he didn't _own_ it- but still…

What was worse: it was never vacated until long after midnight. There was always someone stargazing or engaging in activities that Shikamaru was an accidental witness to, a victim, even. He had to make sure his mind was clear of _those_ memories whenever he came to cloud-watch, but the number of "untainted" spots on that hill was steadily shrinking.

"Shikamaru!" Ino had called out his name in surprise. "I thought you'd be over on that hill, watching the stars or something… Why aren't you?"

"Other people," he replied simply.

Ino shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on! You know you want to," she added.

Shikamaru sighed and let her pull him along. He did not need more un-pleasantries in his life right then.

* * *

"Oh, look at that!" Ino pointed excitedly at yet another star. "What's that one?" 

"Ino, please shut up," Shikamaru mumbled.

"Come on!" Ino looked ready to pout. "Please tell me?"

"No, now be quiet."

_SMACK!_

"Ow! Ino, what was _that_ for?" Shikamaru rubbed his head where Ino's fist had made contact.

Now she really was pouting. "For being rude," she quipped.

"I did say 'please' at first," grumbled Shikamaru. "It's not my fault that you don't listen to anybody."

That did it.

Ino was silent for a while, lying back in the grass.

"Ino?" Shikamaru finally asked. It had to be nearing midnight, and Inoichi was probably looking for his daughter. If he found them together… The hill they were on was well-known for the antics of those on it. Shikamaru did not have a death wish. "Ino, don't you need to go find your dad or something?"

"So it's not enough that I'm quiet- you just want me to go away?" Ino croaked, not bothering to conceal that she was crying.

"No Ino, don't-" he was on the verge of berating her again, but that would not be the best idea, he knew. "It's not like that."

"Then what _is_ it, Shikamaru?" she demanded.

Shikamaru sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just, I prefer to _quietly_ stargaze."

Ino sniffed. "I don't do this often, Shikamaru. It's so beautiful, and I just _have_ to say something!" Another sob almost drowned out her last few words. "After all, you share things with your friends, don't you? You talk about things with Choji, so why not me?"

Defensively, Shikamaru snapped, "I do talk with you! But it always leads to arguments! Ino, I don't like arguing with you all the time! I just wish we could be quiet together or something!"

"You… like being with me, then?" Ino asked.

Shrugging, Shikamaru offered her a rather unconvincing, "Yeah, sure." She was unnerving when she was quiet like this. It meant she was thinking of something. Something that might involve pain for him.

"I like being with you, too," admitted an uncharacteristically shy Ino.

Now _that_ threw Shikamaru for a loop. She did not seem to like him at all. He had to suppress any and all sarcastic retorts that bubbled up. Thinking quickly, the only subject seeming reasonable at that point was, "That star you pointed out earlier. It's part of the constellation _ursa minor._ The mother bear, _ursa major_- it's over there." He positioned himself closer to her to show her.

She was warm, he thought. It was probably all that shopping. He did not understand how she did not break a sweat with the shopping she did, but her temperature was quite pleasant.

And then something odd happened: She wriggled a little closer. A jolt went through Shikamaru. A fizzing sensation started in the pit of his stomach and slowly spread out. He was suddenly conscious of everything about Ino, and it was making him nervous.

"What's that one called?" Ino pointed to a general area.

Shikamaru decided to humor her, rather than tell her off again and risk another fight. "Which one are you pointing at?" he asked.

Slowly, as if she suspected him of bolting, Ino moved her head onto Shikamaru's chest. She took his hand and pointed to the one she was looking at, feeling a sudden shock pass between them.

"That's Sirius. It's one of the brightest in the sky," he informed her, his voice almost cracking several times.

"Hm."

The silence was unbearably awkward.

"I-"

"Shi-"

Both stopped. Ino sat up first, Shikamaru right after. They were facing each other, and, as much as they both wanted to look away, neither could.

He did not know why it just felt so right, but it did, and so Shikamaru decided to kiss Ino.

And so we will give them their privacy for a minute, but only that long…

Ino twitched away, blushing in earnest. "Shikamaru…"

"Hm?" He laid back in the grass.

"Never mind." Ino placed her head on his chest once again, but this time, Shikamaru's arms wrapped around her.

That was the night that Ino found that _quiet_ stargazing was her new favorite thing.

**A/N: Please review and tell me how I did! I'd like to write more, but I'd also like to improve, too!**

**Oh, and, as I usually write things while listening to music, this one was to "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls.**


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